The Dangers of Fishing
by rosefields
Summary: It's almost funny how things work out. That the way Danny nearly dies isn't anything ominous. It isn't a hit that five-0 get in the way of, or a biological weapon that comes into the office in an envelope sealed with a kiss. No, the things that nearly kill Danny are the same things he'd thought it would be since moving to Hawaii; the ocean and a man named Steve McGarrett.


Hi Everyone,

I've been having massive writer's block with Truth and Lies, so I've decided to out this oneshot for Girtie instead. Please leave more requests and I'll gladly fill them. Enjoy and let me know what you think.  
Rose xx

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It's almost funny the way things work out. That the way Danny nearly dies isn't anything ominous, no sinister bad guy lurking around a corner, no drugs bust gone wrong. It isn't a hit on the governor that five-0 get in the way of, or a biological weapon that comes into the office in an envelope sealed with a kiss. No, the things that nearly kill Danny are the same things he'd thought it would be since moving to Hawaii; the ocean and a man named Steve McGarrett.

"Steve, you got something?" Danny wanders over to where Steve is wrestling with a fishing rod, bare feet slapping against the wet deck of the boat. It's one of their rare days off, and Danny's decided it's finally time Steve learnt to fish. He'd been shocked to find out the ocean-dwelling, SEAL-being man had never caught a fish in his life, a fact he was working now on remedying.  
"Maybe, gah, this is so stupid." Steve pulled on the rod jerkily and the line snapped and it was only Danny's reflexes that saved his eye from the vicious whip of the severed wire.  
"Slow down, fish boy. It's about gentleness and patience, though maybe that's why you're not any good at it."  
Steve laughed good naturedly, reeling in the remaining line and re-hooking it, getting ready to cast again. The next sequence of events would have been funny if they hadn't almost gotten him killed.  
Steve swung the rod back, getting ready to cast. At the same time, Danny stepped forward to help him. Steve's elbow cracked him on the head and had him seeing stars. He may have been alright if he hadn't stumbled backwards, tripping over the bait box and falling, temple striking the small swing-door that leads to the propeller. Light burst in front of his eyes, Danny isn't conscious to feel the shock of water as he goes overboard.

Steve's laughing even as he goes to help his friend after he hits him, apologies falling from his lips. But his reflexes aren't as sharp as usual, an effect from the few beers they've put away while out on the water for hours. He missed the stabilising grip he aims for Danny's forearm and can do nothing but watch as Danny goes overboard.  
"Danny!" The fishing rod is long forgotten, and he waits only a second to see if he will resurface before seeing he won't. He dives off the back of the boat, sinking through the water, not a thought for the sting of the salt as he looks for the shape of the blonde. A small trail of blood leads him to a dark mass, he reaches and grasps what he thinks is shirt, kicking upwards and towing the man that is the furthest thing in his life from a burden to the surface. He breaks the water with a gasp. He's relieved they've not had the motor going and are only ten or so metres from the boat. Pulling Danny's head out, he places an arm securely around his shoulders, tilting his head over his shoulder and beginning to swim back to the relative safety of their vessel. He heaves Danny over the small entranceway, pushing him securely on before hoisting himself over the back. His heart is hammering despite not having been too strained by the swim. He rolls Danny onto his back, straightening his limbs. He checks what he knows, and finds Danny isn't breathing. Praying, he feels for a pulse. There isn't time for the whoop of joy he'd like to let out at feeling a gentle thud beneath his fingers, he knows they have seconds before that too disappears. He pinches Danny's nose, breathes into his mouth three times in quick succession. A trickle of water begins to dribble from his mouth and Steve is quick to turn him onto his side, relieved to see the stream flows faster until Danny is coughing and spluttering all over the deck, eyes fluttering with confusion. Any lack of sobriety is long gone, and Steve is quick to peel Danny's eyes all the way open, ignoring his groan. His pupils are even but move sluggishly, not tracking as Steve moves his fingers back and forth in front of his face.  
"Danny, can you hear me?" He knuckles at the blonde's sternum while talking.  
"Mmh." Steve doesn't know if the noise is of confirmation of confusion.  
"Danny, who am I?"  
"Sh'up St'v." And that's better, any snark is indicative of a level of cohesion.  
"Hey Danno. Why'd'ya have to go and get yourself thrown off huh? I was going to catch a fish." Even as he talks, he's stripping the wet clothes off his partner, covering him with towels and finally, letting himself stand, running to the seat where he knows the first aid kit sits under a cushion. He pulls it out and is quickly back next to Danny, pulling out gauze and hastily wiping the blood that still flows away from his face. The cut isn't bad, but the lump is, and a headwound to the temple is never a good thing. He bandages the wound.  
"Danno, open your eyes for me." Eyelids flutter and the deep blue that is revealed is glazed. "Can you tell me your name and where we are?"  
"In the f'ckn ocean. Nd' m' D'nno, you'jst said."  
"Come on Danny. What day is it?"  
"F'ckn hate the ocean." Danny's eyes close again and nothing Steve does can wake him. Their best bet is going to be the mainland.  
"Time to go home Danno." He carefully drags Danny under the cover of the wheelhouse, packing more towels and blankets around him until there is a comfortable little nest, broken only by the pale face of Danny, marred by a bandage that is slowly reddening.

Steve doesn't feel the cold slowly settling into his bones. The sun is setting as they race back across the ocean, and Steve ensures he stays in line of the sea-spray to protect Danny. When he finally can make out the dock with any clarity, he's ready to weep, and he pulls out his phone. Luck must be on his side because he has signal, and he wastes no time informing the nearest hospital that he will be there in ten minutes.

As soon as the boat is relatively safely docked, Steve is scooping up the pile of blankets and racing towards the car, unlocking it with half a finger and laying his cargo on the seat next to him. Buckling himself in, he once again tries to rouse his partner.  
"Danny," he peels way from the curb. "Danny, come on bud, wake up." There is a small groan, but little else, and once again Steve is fighting mounting panic. He hits speed dial two on the hands-free.  
"Chin here."  
"Chin," Steve has to fight through chattering teeth, suddenly realising how cold he is, still in wet clothes. "There's been an accident. Danny took a nock on the head and went over. He took in some water and wasn't breathing for probably forty-five seconds, he woke up and was pretty aware but he's not come 'round since."  
There's a second's pause while Chin processes the rapid fire of information he's just been thrown.  
"Alright Steve. I can hear the engine; you heading to Queen's?"  
Steve nods, then realises Chin can't see him. "Yeah, two minutes away." He'd managed to nearly halve the time it should have taken to get to the hospital.  
"Alright. I'll call Kono and Rachel then meet you there, okay?" Chins voice is soothing, calm in the face of Steve's panic and it reassures him the just the slightest bit.  
"Yeah, alright." His finger hovers, ready to hang up.  
"Steve," the voice halts him.  
"Yeah?"  
"You've done well. Keep your head."  
The line goes dead as he pulls into to the emergency bay.

He leaves the car running as he jumps out, running around to the passenger side and pulling Danny out. He's glad when there's a groan in response and he races towards the doors.  
The emergency room is surprisingly quiet for a Tuesday afternoon, but it doesn't matter either way to Steve, there's a nurse that beckons him over as soon as she sees the ocean-soaked man and his blanketed partner.  
"Daniel Williams," He says without prompting, laying Danny on the provided gurney and stepping back half a step. "Injury to the right temple, resulted in loss of consciousness and submergence in water; he wasn't breathing when I got him back to the surface, but I gave three rescue breaths which restored it. He woke briefly and was able to tell me his name and roughly where we were, but his pupils were sluggish and he quickly lost consciousness. I haven't been able rouse him much since." By now there is a small team of doctors and nurses around them and though Steve hadn't been too aware of moving, they're in a small, curtained off cubicle.  
"Alright hon, you've done well. Can I get you a seat?" There's a matronly woman next to him, in her late fifties at the least, with greying hair curled like a nurse in the forties, and Steve can tell she would have once been the talk of the town.  
"I'm fine thanks. I'm going to stay with Danny." There's quite suddenly a hand on his shoulder that he knows, small and warm and feeling like home.  
"Kono?" He turns.  
"Yeah boss. I think Danny's in pretty good hands, but you're still pretty damp and looking a bit worse for wear."  
He's ready to argue but then Danny's bed is being rolled away and the second his friend is out of sight the world begins to grey around the edges and sounds are going fuzzy like there's interference on a radio. He can hear someone calling his name, feel a hand forcing him down into a chair, and then the everything fades out-

-and slowly fades back in. He's on the ground though he doesn't remember lying down, his legs on the chair he was sure he was siting on. Someone is talking in his ear and someone else is taking his clothes off and woah, not okay. He jolts upwards.  
"Hey! Steve! Lie down boss." Kono's hands are on his shoulders again and she has more strength than he remembers her having. Or maybe he has less. He isn't quite sure, things are still a little fuzzy.  
"What happened. The only people in the room are Chin, Kono and the forties-hair lady.  
"Pretty massive adrenalin crash Brah." It looks like it was Chin that had been taking his pants off and his shirt had disappeared somewhere in the grey between Danny leaving and him waking-Danny! That reminds him. He attempts to rise, and is once more halted.  
"I need to find Danny."  
"Hon. You're mostly undressed. You're exhausted and in the beginnings of what might end up as shock if you don't stay put for a bit. Your friend has gone for an MRI to be safe and they're not going to let you see him until he's settled. That's going to be a good few hours. Right now, you need something warm and dry, something to eat and a hot drink and preferably somewhere to comfortable to rest, because I assume you won't go home. And if that doesn't sound like something you'd like to do, I have your friend's permission to admit you on precaution, okay?" The nurse is smiling at him with kind brown eyes, and she suddenly reminds him of his mother telling him to stay in bed when he was a small child and ill with the flu and it hurts enough to have him nodding. Chin is suddenly next to him, handing him neatly folded pile of sweats and a hoodie, both of which are looking slightly worse for wear.  
"They're from the charity bin, I'll run to your place a bit later and when you're done with them. Give them a wash and bring them back when you're here next." Steve gratefully pulls his sopping boxers off, modesty now lost and re-dresses, not realising how cold he'd been until he'd has warm clothes back on. Even as his goes to stand from where he's been pulling socks on, his head spins. Chin reaches out a steadying hand.  
"Thanks." He isn't just referring to the supportive hand keeping him on his feet.

An hour later, Steve, Kono and Chin are waiting in a small, closed off room. Rachel and Grace are on their way and cousins sit deep in conversation. Steve's eyes flutter open and shut, the waiting room is wavering in front of him, every time his head falls he is quick to jerk it back up. But the pull of the sandman is fast becoming too hard to resist and within minutes, he is gone.

"Steve." Steve's tempted to kill whoever is trying to wake him. "Steve wake up, we can go see Danny."  
Though he doesn't know why, that has Steve rocketing from asleep to awake in less than a second, however when he sees the bland, phlegm green walls memory comes rushing back.  
"Danny?" He leaps up and regrets it when he feels shaky, but it fades and he makes eye contact with Chin.  
"He's fine. They'll keep him overnight, it's actually not that bad. He has a hard head. But he's been asking for you and you won't leave until you see him, so this is best for everyone." Chin smiles and points Steve towards the hallway.  
"Room 216. If you hit the cafeteria you've gone to far. However, if you do end up there, grab a coffee. You look like shit."  
Steve gives him a middle finger salute and walks away.

Danny's room is bathed in semi darkness, but Steve can make out enough to see that Danny doesn't look anywhere near as bad as he'd thought he would. Steve lets out a breath that has been caught in his throat since Danny went over. He collapses into the chair at Danny's bedside.  
"Look at me, you goof." Danny's voice is slightly croak, but his eyes have opened and his cheeks have colour.  
"Danno," Steve hadn't realised his friend was awake. How're you feeling?"  
"Like my idiot friend bashed me over the head."  
Steve grimaces. "Remember that, do you? Can't remember to get my coffee without milk but you remember when I manage to take you out? My one attempt at a hit, not only has it failed but the guy I was trying to take out remembers everything. My master plan has failed."  
Danny chuckles, then groans. Steve shoots up from his chair.  
"Calm down Rambo." Danny's looking tired again and Steve doesn't have the heart to remind him about the whole Rambo-army/Steve-navy thing once again.  
"You should probably get some sleep Danno. Rachel ad Grace will be here soon and Grace will want her Danno alert to tell her all about his latest adventures.  
"We should start writing these adventures down.' Danny's voice is fading out.  
"Oh yeah?"  
"We'll call this one 'The Dangers of Fishing'."  
Steve snorts. "Very dangerous activity, this fishing. Won't be going again anytime soon."  
Danny rolls over, facing Steve even as his eyes flutter shut.  
"Course we will. You still need to catch your first fish.

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"Hi everyone, I hope you liked this. It was an attempt at Danny whump, which isn't my forte, and it accidently crossed back into Steve hurt/comfort, apologies for that by the way, I just can't help myself. 😊 Did anyone get the not-so-subtle NCIS reference? No, oh well. I hope you enjoyed it. Please read and review. Feel free to send requests and I'll fill them to the best of my ability.

Rose xx


End file.
